Truck and axle mechanism for railway-cars.



M. S. MUNN. TRUCK AND AXLE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLICATION TILED NOV. 28,1913.

Patented July 28, 1914.

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APPLIOJTION I'ILBD NOV. 28, 1913. 1 1 05,29 1 Patented July 28, 1914.

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M. S. MUNN.

TRUCK AND AXLE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY CARS.

APPLLOATION FILED NOV-28,1913.

1,105,291 Patented July 28. 191 1 WITNESSES. 1. YE 1' 0R. fff 4 M 772mm,9 6 a; grin; 4770MB).-

MERTON S. MUNN, OF STILLWATER, MINNESOTA.

TRUCK AND AXLE MECHANISM FOR RAILWAY-CABS.

Specification oflietters Patent.

Application filed November 28, 1918, Serial No. 803,476.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MERTON'S. MUNN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Stillwater, in the county of VVashington and State ofMinnesota, have invented anew and useful Truck and Axle Mechanism forRailway-Car's, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to truck and ,axle mechanism for railway cars; andthe principal object is to prevent wear and tear of the flanges of thecar wheels and the adjacent sides of the rails against each other inrunning over curves of a track, and at the same time to prevent possiblespreading of the rails from lateral pressure by the flanges of thewheels against the outer or longer rail of the curve.

This and other objects I attain by providing each ear with a mechanismwhich is operated by compressed air and arran ed to turn each truck ofthecar in the directlon of the curve of the track; said-mechanism beingthrown into action and out of action by having certain levers arran edto contact with blocks fixed on the roa bed near each end of each curveof the track.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a simplerailway car standing on a track andem odying my invention. Fig. 2 is atop or plan view of what is shown in Fig.v 1, exce t that the rail tiesare omitted and the car ody is shown only in dotted outline, and theoperatingcylinder is shown in diametrical section. Fig. 3 is an enlargedsectional view about as on the line aa, Fig. 2, and with the middleportion of the beam 39 in Fig. 1 brolren away, showing one of theair-controllin valves in what may conveniently be terme idle position.Fig. 4 is the same 'as Fig. 3, only that the valve plug stands in whatmay be termed active position, because when the valve is in thatposition the mechanism will act on the trucks to turn them. Fig. 5 is anenlarged diametrical section of one of the car wheels and its axle andjournal, disclosing means for lubricating the axle in the wheel. Fig. 6is a plan view of a railway track having two opposite curves andactuating blocks adjacent thereto, and on the track is shown a flat cararranged to move in either direction of the track. This view 7 being ona comparatively small scale only afew arts of the mechanism are eitherindicate in dotted lines or shown through Patented July 28, 1914.

notches formed in the car floor by breaking away portions near the fourcorners of same,

numerals, 1 designates the ties and 2 the,

rails of'a railway track which may have several curves to the one sideor the other; of such curves two are shown. in Fig. 6 and are theremarked at their outer sides A and B.

Fixed on the ties, or otherwiseon the road bed, aretwo blocks, C and D,best shown in Fig. 1 to be highest in themiddle and-inclined toward bothends; the blocks D are near the outer side of the outer rail at one endof the curve, and the block C is nearer to the rail at the other end ofthe curve. The use of said blocks will presently be fully described. I

The car body 3 is provided with the usual studs (not shown) projectingdownward into the central holes 4" in the bolsters 4 of two trucks 5",having wheels 5 with axles 6,

Such

to slide on the .railv when the truck runs on a curve ofthe road. I

'I also provide novel means for lubricatin the wheel and thebushing thusarrange Said means involve a central oil duct or.

chamber 9 in the shaft, with a branch duct 10 leading to the bushin 8,and holes 11 in 9 may extend all the way through the axle o; that theoiling of both wheels ma bedone' from one end of the axle; but bot endsof the axlema also be arranged as shown in Fig. 5; or, t e other end ofthe axle may be constructed and oiled in the ordinary manner, since theaxle is free to rotate in its regular bearings 7 and also in one of thewheels, and that will enable either wheel to rotate faster than theother when the curve of the road so requires it.' The bushing 8 is toprovide two wearing surfaces and thereby lessen the danger of eithersurface running hot', and if one surface should heat and stick, theother may work until the first one may cool off again. a

The flange or collar 17 about the extreme end of the axle is to preventlongitudinal movement of the axle in one direction, and the shoulder 18is to prevent such movement in the other direction in the wheel and thebearing 7 i As best shown in Fig. 5, the flange 5 of each wheel standsat right angles, as at 5", to the face of the wheel, so that the latterwill at all times bear upon the middle of the rail 2, while in ordinaryrailway construction the face of the wheel and the adjacent face of thewheel flange 5 join at an obtuse angle, by which both the wheel and theflange have a'tendency to wear unduly out the inner side and top portionof the rail and also to spread the rails, especially the outer rail of acurve in passing over it. The

force against the outer rail is also due to the" momentum of the car andthe fact that the outer rail is depended on to force the trucks to makea curve while the wheels near the outer side of the curve resist suchturning by being dragged on the rail as-much as the outer rail is longerthan the inner one. It is these weak points about the old structures Iam trying to remedy by my invention.

Secured underneath'the car body is a reservoir 19 adapted to containcompressed air furnished from the regular pipe 20 which" suppliescompressed air to the air-brakes of the train; said pipe 20 is connectedto the reservoir by a hose 21 and a nipple 22, the latter having acheck-valve 23 (shown in Fig. 2) to prevent air from returning from thereservoir. The mechanism being the same at both sides of the car I willdescribe only one side, which is as follows The lfeservoir 19 isconnected with both ends of an operating cylinder 25' by piping 24, inwhich are inserted two valves 26, which may be secured to the car bodybybrackets as indicated at 27 in Fig. 1; and the cylinder 25 is securedby a bracket br hanger 28. In the cylinder is a piston 29 fixed on apiston-rod 30, whose pro ecting ends are each provided with pins 31engaging inlslots 32 in overlapping ends or arms of two bell-cranklevers 33; which are fulcrumed on posts 34 dependin from the car; eachlever 33 having its ot er arm pivoted at 35 to the adjacent end of atruck-turning rod 36, which has its opposite end pivoted at 37 to thebolster 4 of the truck.

The plug 38- of each valve 26 (see Figs. 3

and 4) is provided with a beam lever 39 formin two radial arms, each ofwhich has a pm 40 engaging in a.slotted hole 41 in one end of a rod 42;each of said'rods having its other end provided with an eye 43 fittingloosely about the upper end of a normally vertically disposed actuatinglever 44, or 44*. Each actuating lever has its lower endprovided with anantifriction wheel 45, or 45, of which the wheel 45 i arranged tocontact with the block C and the wheel 45 to contact with the block D.Each lever44 and 44 has near its middle a slotted hole 46 (best shown tothe right in Fig. 1), engaged by a pin 47 fixed in a pocket 48, which issecured at 49, one pocket to each end of the truck-bolsters 4, and hasits upper edge provided with a V-shaped notch 50, in

which a pin 51 of the actuating lever normally rests when the .lever isin its lowest position on the fulcrum pin 47.

In Fi be imagined to be in the samev relation'to a curve as shown inFig. 6, and they will aid in explaining the operation of the devicealthough the space does not permit to show them properly apart in saidFigs 1 and 2.

The operation is as follows: The valve plugs 38, arms 39 and rods 42normally occupy the positions shown in Fig. 3, so that the compressedair from the reservoir presses equally at both of the piston, thusleaving the trucks w thout any tenden to turn as long as the car is onastraight track. The reservoir being sup plied with compressedair,either in the way already sweat having connectionwith the piping for theair-brakes and the aircompressor belonging thereto,.or a special air-comressi' device (not shown) may be carried hy e125 car and operated byefriction wheel contacting with one of the carwheels. Su posing thus thatthe reservoir and the cy inder are char ed with compressed air, and itbe desi to run the car over the curve B, in the direction of the arrowE; thewheel 45 will then contact with the block C and lift the lever ofsame with its pin 51 above the notch 50 of the pocket and willthereupontiltthe lever sufiiciently to cause the lower rod 421to .pulland thereby turn the valve plug to the position shown in Fig. 4, sothattheairirom the reservoir is cut off and the airin that-end of thecylinder, nearest to the letter-B in Fig. 6, will exhaust through theport 52 of the valve shell, and the air in the other end of the cylinderwill move the piston 29 toward B, whereby the piston and the bell-cranklevers nearest B will push the rods 36 apart, and the bell-crank leversat the other, side of the car will lpsull on the rods 36 and therebygive gs. 1 and 2 the blocks C and D must.

requires. As soon as the lever 44 has passed the block C it drops downto normal position in its pocket and thereby restores the rod 42 tonormal position, as indicated in dotted line in Fig. 4; but the valveplug remains in the actlve position it was turned, and with its upperpin 40 moved to the inner terminal of the slot 41 of the up er rod 42.Now when. the car has passed t e curve B the wheel 45" contacts with theblock D, and acts by ushing on the up er rod 42 so as to rotate t evalve plug'bacE to the idle position shown in Fig. 3, so that the airpressure becomes a ain equal in both ends of the cylinder, an thetruckshave no tendency to turn to either side. Now, if the same carreturns over the curve B in the direction of the arrow ,F, the operationis the same as already described, except that the block I) will actfirst and cause the lever with wheel .45 to. on the u per rod 42 andthus turn the va ve plu to the active position in Fig. 4, and after t ecurve ispassed the block 0 will act on the inner lever 4:5 and cause thelower rod 42 to push and thereby return the valve plug to its normal andidle position shown in Fig. v3. c If the car is to run in eitherdirection over the curve A, the valve 26 and all mechanism connectedtherewith at the other side of, the car, the side nearest A, will serveso exactly in the same manner already described for the side B thatthere Is no use in re ating the description; this is also obvious cm thefact that if the sheet containing Fig. 6 be turned bottom ed e upwardand the otter A changed to B, t e description of operation given isreadable wit out alteration upon the curve really marked B. Such exactsimilarity of ar- 30 rangement upon both sides of the car enables thedevice to work equally as well if the car should be reversed end-for-endon the track, as is sometimes done b passing cars over triangles or overa on the road or by reversing it on a turn-table.

What I claim is:

1. For operation upon a railway track having a curve and a b ock fixednear each end of the curve, a car ar to move on said track and havintrue with axles and wheels; said tru pivoted underneath the car to turnin passing over curves a doubleacting cylinder fixed underneath the carand having: piston and a piston rod extending there in beyond thecylinder, rods operativ'ely connectin the piston rod with the trucks toturn t em, a reservoir and means for supplying the reservoir withcompressed air, two valves arranged to normally admit compressed airfrom the reservoir into the two ends of the cylinder, each valve beingconstructed to shut ed the air supply to the cylinder and exhaust airthere rom when turned in a certain position; actuating levers Ifulcrumed oaths trucks arranged to contact the track at which the withthe blocks near the track, and operative connections between saidactuating levers and the valves, whereby each valve is alternatelyturnedto active osition when the car enters a curve and to idle position whenthe car leaves the curve.

2. For operation upon a railway track having curves to either side fromthe main track, and blocks fi ed outside of each curve, one block nearea end thereof, one block being nearer to the track than the other andhaving each two inclines sloping from the middle of the block towardeach end thereof;

a car arranged to move in either direction on the track and havingswiveled trucks with flanged wheels to roll on the track; a doubleactingcylinder fixed transversel underneath the car and having a piston wipiston rod: extending from both sides of it and out beyond the cylinder,two pairs of bell-crank levers fulerusned underneath the car and operatively connected one pair with each iston rod, four longitudinal rodsarran two near each side of the car and having each one end 'pivotallyconnected with one of the trucks and the other end pivotally connectedto one of the bell-crank-levers; means for supplying compressed air intothe cylinder,

a valve arranged to control the inlet and exhaust of air at each end ofthe cylinder, four actuating levers mounted one at each side of eachtruck and arranged to contact with the blocks near the track in theorder stated, and operative connections between said actuating levers ateach side of the car and the cylinder valve nearest that side of thecar; said two levers at each side of the car having at the lower endseach an antifriction wheel, said wheels arran ed at each side of the carone to contact wit the outer block and the other with the inner blocknear the side of operate; and means for restoring and hol ing saidactuatin levers in normal position with sufiicient rmness to avoidaccidental displacement of them. 7

3. For operation upon a railway track having curves and blocks fixednear the ends of the curves, a car arranged to move on said track andhaving trucks with axles and wheels; saidtrucks pivoted underneath thecar to turn in using over the curves, a double-acting cylinder fixedunderneath the cal and having a iston and piston rod ex,- tendingtherefrom yond the cylinder, rods operatively connecting the piston rodwith the trucks to turn them, a reservoir arranged to receive compressedair from an air compressor and having a check-valve to prevent return ofthe air when the compressor is 126 not in active communication with thereservoir; two valves arranged to normally admit compressed air from thereservoir into both ends of the cylinder, each valve bein constructed toshut ed the air supply to t e cyl- 130 inder and exhaust air therefromwhen turned to a certain position; actuating levers carried by thetrucks and arranged to contact with the blocks near the track, andoperative connections between said actuatin levers and the valves,whereby each valve is alternately turned into active position when thecar enters a curve and into idle position when the car leaves the curve.

4. For operation upon a railway track having a curve and blocks fixednear each end of the curve,a car arranged to move on said track andhaving trucks pivoted to turn underneath the car in passing over thecurve, said trucks having axles and track wheels thereon, one or bothwheels on each axle being revoluble thereon and the axle having acentral oil duct with a radial duct for oiling the wheel, and means forclosing the central duct at the end ofthe axle; a truckturning devicecarried by the car and having parts arranged to contact with the blocksnear the track for the regulation of the action of the device, and meansfor operating said truck-turning mechanism by compressed 25 air.

5. For operation upon a railway track having a curve and blocks fixednear each end of the curve, a Car arranged to move on said track andhaving trucks pivoted to turn underneath the car in passing over thecurve, said trucks having axles and track wheels thereon; one or bothwheels on each axle bein revoluble thereon, means for oilin said ax esin the wheels, a truck-turning evice carried by the car and having partsarranged to contact with the blocks near the track for regulating theaction of the device, and means for operating the truck-turnin device bycompressed air, said track w eels havin each a cylindrical face and aflange at rig t angles therewith.

In testunon whereof I afiix my signature,

in presence 0 two witnesses.

' MERTON S. MUNN. Witnesses:

E. J. Casmo, J. E. Dnsauma.

